Veteran play-by-play man Jim Nantz says, "I've never seen anything like it before."

If you were like me and hosting a family get-together on Sunday and didn't see what initially happened to Louisville guard Kevin Ware late in the first half of the NCAA Midwest Regional final, you were frustrated.

"Show the replay!" I said as we tried to figure out why players and coaches were crying and others were in despair.

It was only later when you learned the gruesome nature of what transpired and caught a glimpse of it on the Internet that you understood why CBS thought it was appropriate not to show the replay again after initially showing it twice.

Ware's injury, jumping to block a shot by Duke's Tyler Thornton only to crumple on the Louisville sideline with a compound fracture of his leg, is now a part of NCAA lore and sports television history, but CBS wisely didn't exploit the situation.

Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports, insists that the right decision was made to not show Ware suffering again after the initial replays.

"It was a relatively easy call to make because of the gruesome nature of the injury," McManus said. "The decision was the right one and what I am really proud of was the way it was handled on site by Jim [Nantz] and Clark [Kellogg]. They didn't say a lot for a long period of time because it was really a situation of where the pictures told the story. And when they did speak, it was measured and emotional.

"The pictures of the players and of [Louisville coach] Rick Pitino wiping away tears was as dramatic as we've seen in a long time."

McManus said he thought that the two quick replays right after the injury occurred were needed to clarify what had happened to Ware.

"To be honest with you, it took showing the second replay for it to sink in fully," McManus said. "Once we saw it, everyone at CBS was in agreement that we did it long enough. There will always be those who say: 'Boy, you probably should have done more to document the scene.' "

McManus noted that in this day and age, if you want to see the footage you can. on YouTube or another Internet outlet.

"I just didn't think we needed to be the facilitator to put that footage back on the screen," McManus said. "We documented it, we described, we showed it and that was enough."

As the lead guy for CBS football, Nantz sees brutal injuries all the time, but this was different. He said it's hard to get the image out of his mind.

"For this injury to happen right in front of his teammates, right in front of his bench and to see their shock and horror of being just a few feet away and then to see three other players just collapse to the hardwood when they realized what happened … it's just hard to wrap your mind around it," Nantz said.

CBS went to courtside reporter Tracy Wolfson for updates as the game went on, and also got a postgame interview with Louisville coach Rick Pitino before signing off for "60 Minutes," not normally what they would do.

"We wanted to give Tracy enough time to talk to [Pitino] to get an update on Ware's condition and also to find out what happened in the huddle, in the locker room and what he said to the players," McManus said.

McManus wasn't sure if the replay would be shown again on Saturday during the Final Four. If it were to be shown, it would only be shown with blurred images, McManus said. CNN has used that technique in replaying what happened.

As for the four teams that have made it to Atlanta, Nantz said it's a surprising, but compelling foursome.

"I don't think there are many brackets across the country that held up with the Final Four that we have," he said. "I am sure a lot of people had Louisville getting there and rightfully so. That's a dynamic, electrifying team that is going to take a lot for somebody to beat in Atlanta.

"But when you look at the mix, you have a Cinderella team in Wichita State and it's always good to have a Cinderella story going into the Final Four and then you have two teams that are peaking at the right time and who aren't afraid of the big stage in Syracuse and Michigan. I'm excited about what we have in Atlanta."

Sunday's regional finals ratings were up 31 percent from last year, even though it fell on Easter Sunday.

Through all rounds, CBS and Turner are averaging 9.7 million viewers, up 11 percent from last year's 8.7 million. To this point, it's the highest-rated tournament since 1994.

Did you know?

New CBS basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb got into a mini-controversy on his first night in the CBS/NCAA studio when he kiddingly said he was there to give the "white man's perspective." Gottlieb apologized for the comment.

McManus said that any time you add someone with strong opinions like Gottlieb there's going to be "some fireworks and interesting moments." However, McManus added, "He has added an element of analysis that we didn't have" and he looks for Gottlieb to get better "as they evolve as a group and get more comfortable with each other."

Also, WFAN radio announced on Tuesday that afternoon host Mike Francesa has signed a new multiyear deal with the station and that Francesa's long-running "The NFL Now" Sunday morning show will be heard on CBS Sports Radio and its 250 affiliates this fall. Neil Best of Newsday reported that the deal keeps Francesa on WFAN into 2017 and is worth about $5 million per year.

Keith's Can't Miss … Opening Day at Citizens Bank Park is always special for many area baseball fans.. Comcast SportsNet gets you ready on Friday at 1:30 p.m. with an airing of "No Surrender: 2012 Phillies Video Yearbook" and then pregame coverage from CBP begins at 3 with the Royals and Phils to follow at 4.